The Big Orange finished the season with a 28-4 overall record,
tallying the program’s most wins since it went 32-3 in 2004.
The Lady Vols entered the 2011 NCAA Tournament as the No.
14 national seed. It marked the fourth time UT has earned a
national seed for the postseason tournament.
40

BY SET
When winning the first set
When losing the first set
When winning the second set
When losing the second set
When winning the third set
When losing the third set
When winning the fourth set
When losing the fourth set

22-2
6-2
20-1
8-3
24-1
4-3
11-3
3-1

Record in first set
Record in second set
Record in third set
Record in fourth set
Record in fifth set
Games record

24-8
21-11
25-7
15-4
6-3
91-33

In three-set matches
In four-set matches
In five-set matches

13-0
9-1
6-3

TENNESSEE VOLLEYBALL /// 2012 MEDIA GUIDE

THE PERCENTAGES
When hitting .400 or better
When hitting .300-.399
When hitting .200-.299
When hitting lower than .200
When out-hitting the opp.*
When out-hit by the opp.
When out-digging the opp.*
When out-dug by the opp.
* Or Tied

4-0
8-0
14-1
2-3
26-1
2-3
24-1
4-3

BY DAY
On Monday
On Tuesday
On Wednesday
On Thursday
On Friday
On Saturday
On Sunday

Nikki Fowler finished her career as the most decorated volleyball player to compete at Tennessee. After earning third-team
All-America status as a senior in 2010, she became one of just
five Lady Vols to ever be named on the first, second or third
AVCA All-America teams.
48

TENNESSEE VOLLEYBALL /// 2012 MEDIA GUIDE

XXX

OUTLOOK

COACHES

LADY VOLS

REVIEW

HISTORY

49

UTLADYVOLS.COM

TENNESSEE CAREER RECORDS
[ Records since 1980 ]

Chloe Goldman (2006-09) finished her
career as both Tennessee's career leader
in digs (1,755) and digs per set (4.37). She
earned AVCA honorable mention All-America
honors as a senior in 2009.

>> Bold indicates current player
>> Career statistics have a two-year minimum to qualify for per-game statistics, and
players must have played in at least half of the
teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s matches during their career.

Stephanie Ehlers (1985-88) ranks second
in the Lady Vol record book for digs in a
season (445), ranks third in career digs
(1,312) and appears in the top five of six
other season and three other career record
lists at Tennessee.
TEXAS CLASSIC
Finish: 4th
10/25 vs. #15 San Diego State
10/26 vs. Texas Tech
10/27 at #16 Texas
10/30
11/1
11/2
11/2
11/6
11/9
11/15
11/18

at Auburn
at Georgia
#7 Kentucky
at Duke
Clemson #
at North Carolina State
Louisville
at Eastern Michigan
at Bowling Green
at Alabama-Birmingham
Ole Miss
#20 Penn State
Mississippi State
at Wyoming
Utah $
at Colorado
Western Kentucky
Florida
Eastern Kentucky
at LSU

at North Carolina State
at Duke
Tennessee Tech
#12 LSU
Ole Miss
at #20 Kentucky
North Carolina
at Auburn
at #7 Florida
Alabama
Mississippi State
#16 Kentucky
at Mississippi State
at Alabama
#18 Georgia
South Carolina
at Ole Miss
at #12 LSU

SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Site: Birmingham, Ala.
11/27 vs. #19 Georgia

1993

HISTORY

1988

W, 3-1
L, 0-3

at Mississippi State
Ole Miss
#7 LSU
at #12 Florida
at Auburn
South Carolina
Georgia
at Eastern Kentucky
Auburn
Wright State
#11 Florida
at Louisville
at #18 Georgia
at South Carolina
at Kentucky

#7 Kentucky
at Louisville
at #8 Florida
at Auburn
Alabama
Mississippi State
at Georgia Tech
at #16 Georgia
at South Carolina
Ole Miss
LSU
at Virginia Tech
South Carolina
#16 Georgia
at LSU
at Ole Miss
at #12 Kentucky

at Alabama
at Auburn
Georgia
Kentucky
Arkansas
LSU
at East Tennessee State
at South Carolina
at #9 Florida
Ole Miss
Louisville
Mississippi State
at Tennessee Tech
at #20 Houston
at Texas A&M
at #20 Georgia
#9 Florida
South Carolina
Virginia Tech
at Kentucky

Ariana Wilson (1997-2001), a three-time All-SEC First Team honoree, was one of the most
proficient offensive players in Lady Vol history. She still ranks second in both career kills and kills
per set and sits on top of the UT career leaderboard with a total of 3,881 attacks.
MAZDA CLASSIC
9/8 George Washington
9/8 Duke
9/9 Oregon

Ole Miss
Mississippi State
East Tennessee State
at Alabama
at Auburn
at Arkansas
at LSU
Georgia
Tennessee Tech
at #3 Florida
at South Carolina
Eastern Kentucky
at #25 Georgia
at Louisville
South Carolina
#3 Florida
at Virginia Tech
at Kentucky
Kentucky

at Tennessee Tech
LSU
Arkansas
at Georgia
at Eastern Kentucky
#3 Florida
South Carolina
at Ole Miss
at Mississippi State
Auburn
Alabama
Georgia
at East Tennessee State
Kentucky
at Kentucky
at UNC Asheville
at South Carolina
at #1 Florida

UNC Asheville
at #16 Arkansas
at Eastern Kentucky
Ole Miss
Mississippi State
Appalachian State
at Jacksonville
at #9 Florida
East Tennessee State
Georgia
South Carolina
at Alabama
at Auburn
Western Carolina
Kentucky
at Kentucky
at South Carolina
at Georgia
#5 Florida
LSU #

UNC Asheville
Ole Miss
Mississippi State
Virginia Tech
at South Carolina
at Arkansas
at LSU
Georgia
#9 Florida
Radford
at Alabama
at Auburn
Appalachian State
at #10 Florida
at Georgia
South Carolina
Kentucky
at Kentucky

at San Jose State
at Louisville
LSU
Arkansas
at Georgia
at #9 Florida
at Appalachian State
#17 South Carolina
at Georgia State
Auburn
Alabama
Virginia Tech
at #22 South Carolina
at Middle Tennessee State
at Mississippi State
at Ole Miss
at Kentucky
Kentucky
#7 Florida
Georgia

at Virginia Tech
Appalachian State
at LSU
at Arkansas
#3 Florida
Georgia
at Kentucky
at South Carolina
Middle Tennessee State
at Ole Miss
at Mississippi State
Alabama
Auburn
at Georgia
at #3 Florida
#18 South Carolina
Kentucky
East Tennessee State

at South Carolina
at Virginia Tech
Auburn
Alabama
at Memphis
LSU
#21 Arkansas
at UNC Asheville
at Mississippi State
at Ole Miss
at East Tennessee State
#4 Florida
Georgia State
at Kentucky
Kentucky
at #4 Florida
South Carolina
Georgia

#15 Louisville
Ole Miss
Mississippi State
at South Carolina
Kentucky
at Mississippi State
at Ole Miss
at Auburn
at Alabama
#8 Florida
Georgia
South Carolina
at Kentucky
at Appalachian State
Arkansas
LSU
at Georgia
at #7 Florida

Alabama
Mississippi State
at Auburn
at Georgia
at Kentucky
Arkansas
at South Carolina
at No. 6 Florida
No. 18 LSU
Ole Miss
at Louisville
at Mississippi State
at Alabama
Georgia
Auburn
at Ole Miss
at LSU
No. 8 Florida
South Carolina
Kentucky
at Arkansas
Notre Dame

Georgia
Auburn
at South Carolina
at No. 6 Florida
at LSU
at Arkansas
Alabama
Ole Miss
at No. 25 Kentucky
at Mississippi State
at Auburn
at Georgia
No. 13 Florida
South Carolina
at Louisville
Mississippi State
at Ole Miss
at Alabama
Arkansas
LSU
No. 16 Kentucky

NATIONAL
STAGE
Tennessee has appeared in the national
postseason 14 times, including 8 trips in
15 years under head coach Rob Patrick,
who led the team all the way to the
NCAA semifinals in 2005

Tennessee has appeared in national championship play in each of
the last four decades dating back to 1973, when Kaye Hart’s Lady Vol
squad posted a 38-6 mark for the season and ended up reaching what was
then the AIAW national championship tournament, finishing 15th in the
nation.
In the NCAA Championships
1981: Tennessee returned to the national scene for the first of four
consecutive appearances in the NCAA Championships. Bob Bertucci’s
team finished the season at 34-22 after a three-game loss to Purdue.
1982: UT went 31-7 and registered its first-ever victory at the
NCAAs, downing Northwestern in a five-set match. The Lady Vols then
returned to West Lafayette for Mideast Regional and were ousted by
eventual NCAA runner-up Southern Cal.
1983: Tennessee posted its third consecutive 30-win season with
an overall record of 31-10. The Lady Vols traveled to Tallahassee, Fla., for
their first-round match against Florida State, dropped the first two games,
and still emerged with a five-game victory. UT journeyed to Austin, Texas,
for the regional where eventual national champion Hawaii eliminated the
Lady Vols in three games.
1984: The final season of Tennessee’s four-year NCAA run featured
a 25-11 record and another first-round win. The Lady Vols hosted Eastern
Kentucky and won in three straight games before traveling to Austin for
the second year in a row. Texas pinned a four-game loss on the Lady Vols.
1993: Nine years later, Julie Hermann became the third coach to
lead the Lady Vols to a national tournament. She brought Tennessee back
to the NCAAs as her squad concluded the season with an overall record
of 18-13. The field had been expanded from 32 to 48 teams, and UT
hosted first-round action against Sam Houston State, posting a four-game
victory. The Lady Vols then lost in four games to Georgia in Athens, Ga.

the third straight campaign in which UT reached
the postseason. With a youthful squad, featuring
seven freshmen and four sophomores, the Lady
Vols gained valuable experience but were unable
to overcome a tough Duke squad, falling in
four games at Stokely Athletics Center. The
Orange and White concluded the season with a
respectable 19-12 overall record.
2008: Following a down year in 2007,
Patrick led the Lady Vols back to the postseason in
2008 after the team finished with a 15-5 record in
SEC play and won 12 of its last 13 regular-season
matches. UT didn’t have to travel far, venturing
to Clemson, S.C., for the opening round of
the NCAA tournament where it dropped a
heartbreaking, five-set decision at the hands of the
host Tigers to finish the year with a 22-10 record.
2009: The NCAA tournament returned to
Knoxville once again in 2009, with ThompsonBoling Arena playing host for the first time. UT,
which won a school-record 16 SEC matches
during the regular season, defeated Duke in the
opening round before falling to No. 11 Minnesota
the following day. The Lady Vols finished with
their seventh 20-plus win campaign under Patrick
with an overall record of 24-8.
2010: The Lady Vols were back in the NCAA
field for the third consecutive season, going on the
road to Bloomington, Ill., for the opening rounds.
They beat Alabama A&M easily in three lopsided
games before losing to host Indiana in five games,
dropping the final frame 15-13.
2011: After winning the program's first
outright SEC championship and boasting a
regualar-season mark of 27-3, UT was rewarded
by hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA
tournament. In the opener against Duke,
Tennessee downed the Blue Devils by a score
of 3-1, setting up a matchup wiith Ohio State
the nexr day. In the round of 32, the Lady Vols
dropped a five-set heartbreaker to OSU, 3-2,
which abruptly ended the the successful season.

REVIEW

2000: From his experience as a part of two
national championship teams at Stanford, head
coach Rob Patrick used his postseason knowhow to navigate the squad to the Lady Vols’ first
NCAA appearance in seven years. Patrick’s troops
ventured to University Park, Pa., for a first-round
match with the Washington State Cougars and
dropped a three-game match to WSU.
2004: In 2004, the Lady Vols stormed their
way into the NCAA tournament with a 30-2
record, before winning two tournament matches
for the first time in UT volleyball history. Stokely
Athletics Center welcomed in Eastern Kentucky,
Texas A&M and Winthrop for its initial hosting
of NCAA play. The Lady Vols swept EKU and
topped the Aggies in four sets to move on to the
regional semifinals and a date with Ohio State.
After the Orange and White claimed the first
two frames, the Buckeyes outscored UT the next
three, including tight 30-26 and 15-12 results in
the final two sets to put one of Tennessee’s best
seasons in school history to an end.
2005: Having learned from their experiences
the previous season, the Lady Vols were determined
to go further than ever before. They hosted
Jacksonville State, Winthrop and 2004 national
finalist Minnesota at the Stokely Athletics Center.
After making quick work of the Gamecocks,
Patrick’s squad found itself down late in the
fourth set against the Golden Gophers but staged
a stunning comeback to claim the five-set victory
and advance to the next round to face Penn State.
Once in Happy Valley, the Lady Vols
continued their winning ways, ending the seasons
of both the Nittany Lions and Missouri Tigers.
The pair of victories clinched a visit to San
Antonio, Texas, for the NCAA semifinals, where
the team faced Washington. The miraculous run
came to an end as the eventual national champion
Huskies proved too formidable a foe, taking
Tennessee down in three sets.
2006: Patrick once again guided the Lady
Vols to the NCAA tournament in 2006, marking

by Ohio State (12/10/04)
by Ohio State (12/10/04)
by Washington St. (12/1/00)
by Ohio State (12/10/04)
by Northwestern (12/4/82)
by Hawaii (12/10/83)
by Duke (12/1/06)
by Duke (12/1/06)
by Ohio State (12/10/04)

>> * minimum 3 att/g

UTLADYVOLS.COM

71

CONFERENCE TITLES & POSTSEASON
ALL-TIME SEC CHAMPIONS

FROM THE ARCHIVES /// NOV. 14, 2004

Lady Vols Snap Florida's Streak to Earn Share of
SEC Title (& Win the SEC Tournament a Week Later)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The 15th-ranked
University of Tennessee volleyball squad saw its
first five-game match of the season end with joy
as the Lady Vols topped No. 7 Florida, 30-21,
23-30, 25-30, 31-29, 15-12, to earn a share of
their first SEC regular-season championship in
school history.
In the process, the Lady Vols made history by
ending three astounding SEC winning streaks
that Florida brought into the match: a 145-match
regular season winning streak (an NCAA
record), a 121-match overall (including SEC
Tournaments) winning streak (also an NCAA
record) and a 109-match home winning streak.
The last time Florida lost at home in the
SEC was on Sept. 30, 1990, by a 15-7, 15-9,
15-11 score to LSU.
The Lady Vols earned its third win ever
against a top-10 team and the first one since
1983 when Tennesseee topped No. 9 Arizona
State, 3-1.
"I couldn't be happier for this group of
young ladies," Head Coach Rob Patrick said.
"We talked last January about what it would
take to win the SEC and I told them that we
would have to put more time in the gym and
get stronger, starting in January. This is one
of the most focused teams that I've ever been
a part of. It's just neat to see that all the hard
work ends up accounting for something.
72

TENNESSEE VOLLEYBALL /// 2012 MEDIA GUIDE

"We've had a couple people, Michelle
(Piantadosi) and Whitney (Gifford), who have
been here for four years, who came here to
be in NCAA Tournaments and play for SEC
Championships, and look who got it done
today: Whitney and Michelle.
Game five went back-and-forth as neither
team could muster a two-point lead until
Florida took an 8-6 advantage. After UF had
a 9-7 lead, Tennessee then went on a 6-0 run
for a 13-9 lead and put away the Gators, 1512. The winning point came off a kill from
freshman outside hitter Yuliya Stoyanova.
Senior outside hitter Michelle Piantadosi
recorded a career high 26 kills, while hitting .393
(26-4-56). Junior outside hitter Amy Morris had
16 kills, Stoyanova tallied 14 and junior middle
blocker Kristen Andre recorded 13.
Junior setter Julie Knytych recorded 68 assists
to tie her career high, previously occurring against
Ole Miss on Sept. 26, 2003, by a 3-1 score.
Defensive leaders included sophomore middle
blocker Sarah Blum with nine blocks, Stoyanova
with six and Andre with five. Dig leaders were
Morris with 31, the fourth-highest total in
UT history and a personal record. Sophomore
libero Annie Sadowski had 20 digs, Knytych
contributed 15, junior defensive specialist Jasmine
Fullove contributed 11 and sophomore defensive
specialist Cynthia Buggs tallied 11.

LADY VOL HONOR ROLL
Through the years, the members of the Lady
Vol volleyball teams have earned numerous
honors both on the court and in the classroom.
Since 1976, 98 current or former Lady Vols have
been honored 353 times with such distinctions
as All-SEC, Academic All-SEC, Academic
All-District, All-American, Academic AllAmerican, or have been members on teams at
the National Sports Festival, European Global
Challenge, World University Games, Pan
American Games and Olympic Games.
Among the most decorated Lady Vols was
Beverly Robinson, who played at UT in 1982
and 1983. In total, Robinson was recognized
15 times for her exploits. She is also the only
Lady Vol volleyball player to have her number
(5) retired.
KRISTEN ANDRE

All-SEC 1982, 1984; National Sports Festival East Team
1982, 1983; All-South Region 1984; SEC Tournament
MVP 1984; CVCA, Asics Tiger and USVBA All-America
1984; AVCA All-America Second Team 1984; World
University Games 1985; U.S. National Team member
1985

State College NCAA All-Regional Team 2005; SEC Fall
Academic Honor Roll 2006; SEC Community Service
Team 2006; ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District
First Team 2006; ESPN The Magazine Academic AllAmerica Third Team 2006

All-SEC 1981, 1982, 1983; AVCA All-America First Team
1982; SEC Tournament MVP 1982; National Sports
Festival IV 1982; World University Games 1983; U.S.
National Training Team 1984-1989; Pan Am Games
1987; U.S. Olympic Team 1988

For the fourth-consecutive year, Tennessee
shattered both its overall and average attendance
records at Thompson-Boling Arena. In 15 matches
during 2011, Tennessee boasted an overall attendance of 17,852 and averaged 1,190 fans per match.
Four of the five top crowds in UT history came this
past season.

THOMPSON-BOLING ARENA
2008-PRESENT

STATS BOX /// OLD FACILITY RECORDS
TOP ALUMNI CROWDS

STOKELY ATHLETICS CENTER: 1989, 1998-2007

The Lady Vols had nine of their top 25 highest
crowds during the 2011 season, including a seasonhigh 2,012 against Florida on Oct. 28.
Twenty-two of Tennessee’s top 25 highest
crowds have come in the four years since Thompson-Boling Arena became the team’s primary venue.

After spending 10 seasons in Stokely Athletics
Center, the Lady Vols are entering their fifth season
playing in Thompson-Boling Arena
Since beginning to play in the facility full-time in
2008, the Lady Vols are 50-8 (.862) in home matches.
 Record at Thompson-Boling Since 2008
Year
2008
2009
2010
2011
All-Time